“The Hour Has Come”

by Pastor Mark
March 28, 2024

The hour of death

What was the Lord Jesus conscious of as He faced His impending death? When there was a group of Greeks (God-fearers) who came to see the Lord Jesus, He chose not to see them (John 12:20–22). Instead, the Lord gave a profound response, “But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.”” (John 12:23) He knew that His “hour” – a reference to His death – had come.

Through His death, the Lord Jesus would be glorified. His death would not be meaningless but would be most significant. He would bring glory to God…in fulfilling God’s plan of salvation. The impact that the Lord Jesus would make in His death would be tremendous. At the same time, He sought to teach His disciples how to face death.

The imagery of a grain dying

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” (John 12:24)

  1. The Lord Jesus used the imagery of wheat, which His disciples could easily understand.
  2. If a grain of wheat is alive, it would remain alone and not produce other seeds.
  3. But if the grain of wheat dies, it would become fruitful…yielding more seeds.
  4. The Lord Jesus used this imagery to teach His disciples how He saw His death.
  5. His death would be like the grain of wheat falling and dying.
  6. It would bring about many fruits…to bring salvation to the world.
  7. The death of the Lord Jesus would be a great blessing to all.

The paradox of life

“He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:25)

  1. The Lord Jesus was teaching the disciples about one of the paradoxes of life.
  2. Many love the things of the world and they are afraid of losing them.
  3. They would find it hard to follow the Lord Jesus as they are not willing to give up their lifestyle.
  4. While they may gain the world, the paradox is that they would lose out on eternal life.
  5. But if a true believer learns to “hate” the world, and chooses to love and follow the Lord Jesus, he would have eternal life.
  6. The challenge is not to fear death, as we have eternal life to look forward to.

The challenge to serve…even to death

“If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honour.” (John 12:26)

The Lord Jesus sets a great example of what it means to be a true servant of God. He was willing to serve His Father to the point of death. He served to the fullest extent by sacrificing His own life for the blessing of many.

As believers, the Lord Jesus calls us to serve Him. But to what extent are we willing to serve Him? The Lord taught that all should serve with the same kind of spirit that He had displayed. As servants, we are to “hate” the world and to love Him more than anything else. The challenge is for us to love, follow and serve the Lord even to death. In serving the Lord in this spirit, God would honour us. We would also be a blessing to many. Let us be challenged to serve God in the spirit of our Lord Jesus…with love, sacrifice and full devotion.

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